AROURIS AND THE BOOK OF FORBIDDEN SPELLS
by RetardicallySmart
Summary: Arouris Blackthorn, born into a prestigious wizarding family has zero magical ability at all. Nothing unusual never happened to him or he has never shown any sign that one day he will live up to the family name. Then suddenly, like rain from a clear blue sky a letter arrives inviting Arouris to attend Hotgwarts school. A letter that might change his life...
1. First Spell: The Letter

"It must be a mistake!"

The words were said with such disbelieve that I had a hard time believing them. My father stood over me as I sat on the straight backed extremely hard chair that was one of the four around our small dining table. He was very angry as he brandished a thick piece of parchment that had come by owl that very morning. My mother sat across from him looking first at him, then at me with an anxious expression on her face. Father had never been this angry before; I thought his face would burst into flame from the shade of red it had become.

You see, my family was all wizards, and each of them: my mother, my father and my older sister, have attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Father had been very disappointed to find that his youngest child, his only son, me, had shown no magical ability at all. I had been disappointed as well, seeing as my sister came home every year with incredible stories about Hogwarts and the things that happened there. I burned with envy and wished hard that something would happen, but my magic never came. I was a squib, and my father hated me.

Understand my surprise when that very morning a letter arrived for me from Hogwarts telling me that I had been accepted and would be expected to take the train at kings cross on September 1st. No one was more shocked than I was. I had no magic, so why had I been accepted? Maybe my abilities hadn't matured yet, or it was as my father said. It must be a mistake.

"Is this some kind of joke." my father was saying as he brandished the envelope.

A smaller piece of paper flew out of the envelope and fluttered on to my empty breakfast plate. It was gray parchment and as I picked it up I saw a looping and elegant handwriting scribed there in glittering pink ink.

Dear Arouris Blackthorn,

It has come to my attention that you have not yet received a letter from Hogwarts. Allow me to correct that mistake. I am enclosing it along with a list of things you will need. I understand that you have a slight problem concerning your magical ability and I assure you that you are no squib. If this letter reaches you before then, please come to Diagon Alley on the 28th of august at noon and meet me on the steps of Gringotts Bank. I will then explain everything to you and your father. I hope you and your family will forgive this sudden trouble and I hope that everything will be made clear when we meet. If your father is reading this he should note well that I will personally come to Ottery St. Catchpole and retrieve you myself if needs be. I look forward to seeing you on said date and hope that we can clear up this issue so you may attend school.

Yours Sincerely,

Mailuin Lovegood

Headmistress

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

P.S: you might want to walk with money to purchase your things for school.

My head swam. The headmistress herself had written to me. This went beyond anything I had ever imagined. She had also chewed out father. Did she truly believe I could attend Hogwarts? I was a freak, like my older sister always told me. A disgusting magic-less squib.

"What is that? Give it here." my father snapped, snatching the letter from my hand and reading it.

I watched his face go from red to pale faster than you could say "it".

"T-this is. Mailuin." he spluttered. "That wack job. I can't believe this."

"What is it honey? What's wrong?" my mother asked looking worried.

Father balled up the letter and sat down hard in his chair. He rubbed his hand over his face and seemed lost for words.

"What is going on." my mother asked, getting irritated. "Arouris hasn't got any magic, so he can't attend a Wizarding school. We should ignore the letter and..."

"No." My father said sharply, cutting her off. "He will have to go. I will take him to see Mailuin. If I don'..."

I was surprised to see my father so shaken by anything. Was Mailuin Lovegood such a frightening person, or was it the fact that everyone might find out about Anderson Blackthorn's squib son. After all I was the biggest family secret in the Blackthorn household. I was a disgrace on my family's otherwise flawless history. Would Lovegood expose that secret if father didn't comply with her wishes? I did a mental check and realized that tomorrow was august 28th. The letter had come a day before the time.

"Listen well boy." father said sternly, glaring at me. "I will take you to meet that cow tomorrow, you better not disgrace me or you will wish you have been never born. You got that. Let me do all the talking. Don't utter one word to that woman."

I nodded. No problem there, I hardly ever talked anyway, I was more of a thinker.

"Now go to your room and don't come out till I say you can."

I left without a word, my mind crammed full of whizzing thoughts. What was going to happen tomorrow? I seriously couldn't say I was looking forward to it.

My evil sister Anwyn sat on the top of the stairs twirling her wand between her fingers. I hated her. She seemed to live solely to irritate me. She had my father's sharp black eyes and his curly brown hair, and his evil looking smirk. I took after my mother and wished I didn't. With my long straight black hair and pale skin, many have mistaken me for a girl. I hated how I looked: like a pansy.

"Well Well. Someone's in trouble." my sister said slyly as I climbed the stairs. "Making father looks bad. You are a freak Ri-ri, and no letter will change that. Getting a letter from Hogwarts doesn't mean you will be able to do magic, Squib."

I really wanted to hit her. I could feel my palms tingle just thinking how great it would feel to slap her so hard that the blow would break her jaw. She was four years my senior and nearly twice my height because I was small for my age anyway, but I wished could take her down a notch. I clenched my fists and kept walking. I ignored her quiet laughter as I edged pass her and turned left to go to my room.

"That's right." she called after me slyly. "Keep quiet you squib. That's all you're good at. Run along and cry like a good baby."

I bit my tongue as retorts, hot and dangerous, flooded up my throat. My palms tingled so much that I dug my nails into them. I kept walking, and her harsh laughter followed me until I reached my room and closed the door behind me.

I threw myself on my bed and cried hot angry tears into my pillows. I hated to admit it but Anwyn was right, all I could do is cry. Did the letter make things better or worst? I really couldn't tell.


	2. Second Spell: The Professor

The following morning I was shaken violently awake by my mother. I don't have to tell you how much I hated her for that, plus I had had little sleep.

"Get up and stop being lazy. Your father wants to speak to you in the dining room." she growled before pulling the curtains of my window back and stalking out of my room again.

The morning sun stabbed me in both eyes and even after I got out of bed I was so groggy that I it took me five full minutes to realize I was trying to pull on my jeans like a shirt.

It was a little after nine when I got to the dining room, and when I saw my father sitting at the table, I felt fully awake. He looked like he hadn't slept a wink and was dressed in his best robes and wizard's hat. He hadn't shaved this morning either and his whole appearance looked rather ludicrous.

"So." he said promptly, looking me up and down. "You finally decided to grace us with your presence this morning. Lazy as always. Did you know that Anwyn was up at six this morning, did her chores and is out with her friends? Do you even have any friends? You should be more like your sister."

I said nothing as I sat down and helped myself to toast and butter. I wasn't my sister. She had many friends and was the apple of my father's eye. She excelled at magic and school work. I was pretty smart with school work, a genius even, but without magic or friends I was nothing to my father. I had become accustom to his cruel words.

"You will have to change you cloths. I don't want that woman thinking I don't take care of you. Wear something more decent." he said opening his paper. "And fix your hair, it's all tangled."

I ate quickly and returned to my room where, after a bath, I pulled on clean almost new black jeans, a white t-shirt and a black hooded jacket. I combed my hair and braided it into one long plait which I hung over my shoulder, then regarded myself in the mirror. I couldn't get pass the fact that I looked like a girl in boy's cloths, and the hair didn't help. I liked my hair and blue eyes. Everyone in my family had short hair and my long hair set me apart. It was a small rebellion against the family who hated me. At least they fed me and clothed me. It could be worst.

I waited in my room thinking about what Professor Lovegood was like. Father had told me not to talk. Was he afraid I would reveal how I was treated at home? Was he afraid of his reputation getting stained if the society found out about his squib son? Either way, I was excited to be meeting Professor Lovegood. I had read a great deal about her in 'The Wizard's Way', a magazine that was published monthly. She had been Hogwarts Headmistress for only two years and had been the youngest ever to take the post. She had fought in the one year war when she had only been fourteen, having graduated from Hogwarts four years early. There was no telling how smart someone had to be to graduate at thirteen years old, let alone fight in a wizard's war that had lasted just over a year. She had to be awesome.

I went back downstairs at half past eleven to find my father standing nervously by the fireplace, floo powder jar in hand.

"Should get going, honey. We will be back soon." he was telling my mother. "You know how that woman is."

"Yes dear. Do be careful." mother replied peaking him on the cheek.

"Get over here boy." he growled at me, holding out the floo powder jar. "Get on with it."

I took a pinch of the silver powder and scattered it over the fire in hearth. The fire blazed up taller than a man and turned bright emerald green. Without looking back I stepped into the flames and shouted "Diagon Alley".

A hailstorm of fireplaces later, I spun to a stop in the Golden Cauldron and threw out my arms as I nearly fell flat on my face. The bar was thriving with activity since, I guess, that it was almost lunch time. As I stepped out of the fireplace, I got some unusual looks from several Witches and wizards who were sitting around the room. Maybe it was how I was dressed. I hated wizard cloths on principle and tried not to wear them as much as possible.

They whispered to one another and I strained my ears to hear what was being said, but I had no time to eavesdrop. With a whoosh, my father appeared in the fireplace behind me and stepped into the room. Everyone went silent.

"Come boy." He growled, grabbing me by the hood of my jacket and pulling me towards the exit of the tavern."There is no time to waste."

Outside the tavern the road was almost packed to the sidewalk. Wizards and witches in varying states of odd clothing bumped shoulders as they went about their ways as I was dragged though the throng. I had only been to Diagon Alley once before a long time ago, so I tried to take in as much of it as possible. I got a glimpse of cauldrons stacked twelve high outside a rundown looking shop before I was whisked away. I tried to wiggle out of father's hand but he set his grip to 'vice' and kept moving at a trot. I had to jog to keep up or risk falling over and being dragged face first.

After butting into like fifty people, my father slowed enough to turn and look me sharply in the eyes. I had never seen him look like that. His expression was deadly and his eyes burned with a dark fire.

"Not a word about how you are treated. If you ever disgrace me any more than you already have by being you, I will sit you in a tub of scorpions and to the cruciatus curse on you till you beg me to kill you." He said in a harsh whisper close to my ear. "Do you get my drift?"

I nodded once, my heart in my mouth. He seemed to be dead serious, and father being dead serious meant every word he uttered.

"Good." He said with a hard cold smile. "You don't speak; you don't answer any of her questions. Don't even look into her eyes. I think she is skilled at Legilimency. Just do as I say and don't cause me any trouble or you will regret it."

I nodded again, not bothering to ask what the hell Legilimency was. My father's behavior had me very worried and scared and I wasn't about to get a box upside my ears in the middle of the packed street. So I kept quiet, just like I always do, and when he straightened up and turned and led the way, I followed.

Gringotts white walls shone in the bright sunlight as I climbed the stairs, slightly to the right and behind my father. It was huge and for a moment my eyes hung on its wide arch. When I lowered my eyes, my brain did a double take at what stood halfway up the stairs.

It was a witch, wearing the brightest pink robes I had ever seen and a hat to match. Her hair was white blonde, straight and very long, but her eyes drew all of my attention. They were bright and sparkling like to puddles of molten silver and although I tried to look away, I couldn't, and she was looking at me to.

Father came to stop in front of her and crossed his arms. Her smile was like a knife in silk as she looked him over.

"Well then, Lovegood. I came so that you can make a fool of yourself as usual." My father sneered at her, but the look of arrogant on his face didn't hide the fact that he was sweating. "What rights have you to call me out here on this foolish errand?"

So she was Headmistress Lovegood. I felt a million million questions leap up my throat, but I held my tongue as the tall beautiful woman leaned over me with a genuine smile, warm and sweet like honey, and placed one hand on my head.

"And how are you today, Arouris."

Her voice reminded me of warm hugs and comfort and suddenly I felt as if my heart would burst. This woman was the most unusual person I had ever met. I was actually lost for words, no big surprise.

"Now listen here, Mailuin. I want an explanation as to why you called me out here." My father nearly shouted as her pulled me back by the hood of my jacket.

Professor Lovegood stood up slowly and glared at him. I felt myself wince at the glare and it wasn't directed at me.

"I had no intention of even breathing the same air as you, Anderson, but your son concerns me and I will tolerate you until such time as this meeting is over."

I actually felt my father's hand tremble at her words.

"If," She continued. "You mistreat him in my presence I will see to it that you regret ever having known my. Your son is my only reason for being here because he is special and I believe he deserves to know the truth."

I felt my heart beat faster at the words and curiosity set in like a rabid dog. What in the world could be special about me?  



End file.
